Carnifex

Turtle Bay, New York, 4 September, 2105

In over a century and a half, no one had been able to strip the UN bureaucracy of its perks. No matter how constrained the budget, and in olden days it had been sometimes very constrained indeed, free parking was their charter-given right. Remuneration at the highest level found anywhere on the planet their just due. Generous educational benefits for their children only fair. Fresh water poured by human servants an utter necessity to the forwarding of their sacred work on behalf of mankind.

One of those servants poured now for the three person hiring committee tasked with sorting out the right kind of people from the mass of aspirants.

"Goldstein won't do," said one of the committee, Guillaume Sand, placing the file aside.

"Of course not," agreed another, Ibrahim Lakhdar. "Like we accept Jews anymore. They've served their purpose."

"To be fair, Goldstein claims not to be a practicing Jew," objected the third, Alan Menage.

"It's in the blood," Lakhdar sneered.

Menage shrugged. No sense it getting Ibrahim all worked up over it. Besides, it isn't like I really care about the Jews.

"Here's an interesting one," said Sand, opening a different application file and diverting the subject away from Lakhdar's distressingly open anti-Semitism. "Louis Arbeit. Harvard. Sorbonne. Early volunteer work with International Solidarity Movement. Parents are both Colleagues of Proven Worth. Mother: Christine Arbeit, D1 with the Human Rights Commission. An up and comer, I hear. Father: Bernard Chanet, Deputy Director for International Disarmament. His grandmother recently retired from the European Parliament."

Ibrahim took the file, impatiently, and began flipping pages. When he reached the background information page on the applicant's father, he signaled one of the water servants to bring a telephone. He spoke a number and, after a brief pause, a face appeared.

"Bernard? This is Ibrahim Lakhdar, with the hiring committee. Yes, yes . . . I am normally with Human Rights. I know your wife. I was looking over your son's application and I was wondering if you might not give a little boost to my nephew. He's a fine boy and he's interested in working disarmament . . . "